Drones

Eager to know what 2019 holds for the world of e-commerce? Here are five key e-commerce trends that promise to fuel retailers worldwide in the coming year, including the continuous rise of machine learning to a more sophisticated focus on the omnichannel customer experience, selling on social media and more. 1. Machine Learning Changes Everything…

Technology is top of mind for most retailers today, no matter their size, product category or any other variables. As such, Total Retail surveyed its audience with the goal of finding out what types of retail technology retailers are interested in (as well as investing in), what retail trends and digital trends they’re tracking, and their…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail reviews the week's top retail news stories, including Wal-Mart's patent for a floating warehouse, Wal-Mart's partnership with Google to enable voice shopping from the discount retail chain, and Macy's job cuts and poaching of eBay exec Hal Lawton.

Wal-Mart has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com. The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to customers’ homes. The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much…

It's a bird, it's a plane … never mind, it's just my Amazon Fashion order. It was announced this week that Amazon.com received a patent for a shipping label with a built-in parachute to help drone and air craft deliveries make a soft landing. GeekWire reports the newly issued patent would have the shipping label look…

Wal-Mart was granted a patent this week for a system in which drones would shuttle products between different departments inside its stores. This scenario would free customers from having to walk across its stores to find what they want and from having to wait while employees return from far-away storerooms. Ultimately, Wal-Mart believes that drones “can…

Virginia is the first state to pass legislation allowing delivery robots to function on sidewalks and crosswalks across the state, according to Recode. Ron Villanueva and Bill DeSteph, the two Virginia lawmakers who sponsored the bill, worked with robotics company Starship Technologies, a ground delivery robotics company, to draft the legislation. Under the new law,…

Three years after Amazon.com revealed plans to deliver packages by drone, the company has successfully done it. On Dec. 7 in Cambridge, England, a drone-powered delivery was completed — it took 13 minutes from order to delivery. The drone departed from a custom-built fulfillment center nearby. Total Retail’s Take: Some thought Jeff Bezos’ plans to…

We don't suggest you do this at home without a tarp. In this episode of "What Were They Thinking?" Melissa shares a TV spot in which drones assemble a cake in honor of mobile operator Telia's 4G coverage success across Norway (and she wonders why her own mobile carrier hasn't gotten in on the drone game). Better yet, check out the behind-the-scenes video that Telia, BBD Oslo and Tilt put together to show the process behind the commercial.